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Trapperjohn, Mr SH actually mentioned this after the first recital (I think) : you should learn Cristofori's Dream. So I did! It has a few issues, mostly to do with nine memorised pages falling apart under the stress of recording. But we try

I actually have another Lanz piece nearly ready, Dreamer's Waltz. Would like to vary the composers a bit though, so not probably not playing it for th next recital.

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

Allard, looking forward to Cristofori's dream! I'm learning it myself though I haven't really done much except for the first 2 pages. The other one I want to learn is Lanz' variation of Pachelbel's Canon in D but it's super long and way above my skill level. But some day!

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Adult beginner since January 2013. My only regret is that I didn't learn sooner.

Ohhh I want to learn that one too! So beautiful, but indeed too difficult. I'm going to wait until I can comfortably read the sheet music while playing. All those variations seem a bit too complex to just memorise. Cristofori's Dream is much simpler in comparison, with the same chord progression throughout. Page two, huh? You may want to skip ahead to page four or five. It gets harder and needs the most attention. The opening and ending are so much easier to play.

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

Allard, I do remember playing Cristofori's Dream because I had used a large cardboard moving box to tape three layers of sheet music onto. It looked ridiculous but it worked. There just was too many pages to fit on the music shelf.

Another beautiful piece by David Lanz is London Blue. It is one of my favorites of his.

Allard, I do remember playing Cristofori's Dream because I had used a large cardboard moving box to tape three layers of sheet music onto. It looked ridiculous but it worked. There just was too many pages to fit on the music shelf.

Another beautiful piece by David Lanz is London Blue. It is one of my favorites of his.

I remember your rendition of London Blue Mr S-H. It inspired me to get the music and try it.

Trapperjohn, Mr SH actually mentioned this after the first recital (I think) : you should learn Cristofori's Dream. So I did! It has a few issues, mostly to do with nine memorised pages falling apart under the stress of recording. But we try

Nine memorized pages!

I memorize most of the pieces I play, but the longest has only been about 5 pages - not sure I could double that number...

Hunky is right about "London Blue" - he did a wonderful job with this - yet another beautiful piece (actually stunningly so) by Lanz that you might want to consider some time in the future is his gorgeous "Leaves on the Seine" - I recorded a simplified version of this for a recital a few years back and it turned out decently because it was such a huge labor of love for me.

Edited to add that if I recall correctly (always a doubtful thing) I believe Monica might also have entered "Christofori's Dream" in a Recital some time back...but only because she was laboring under the misconception that it was composed by Einauldi But, then again, maybe not...

Edited by TrapperJohn (05/06/1307:07 AM)

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Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on. Frederic Chopin

I posted the simplified Leaves on the Seine a while back in the piano bar. Learned several of the simplified David Lanz pieces from that book. Wonderful learning experience! I didn't like the simplified London Blue; may look at the 'real' piece sometime. But there is so much to choose from in these books

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David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

Edited to add that if I recall correctly (always a doubtful thing) I believe Monica might also have entered "Christofori's Dream" in a Recital some time back...but only because she was laboring under the misconception that it was composed by Einauldi But, then again, maybe not...

Not as a recital piece, but I did record it (twice, I believe; the second time was a lot better) and posted links somewhere, either on one of the Cristofori's Dream threads or the piano bar. Beautiful piece. I used to have it memorized but not any longer. I should revisit it.

We're at 38 pieces and a week left before the recital goes live. Everything from Dizzy Gillepsie to Rachmaninoff. Two Beethoven Moonlight Sonatas and lots of Bach, Mozart, and Chopin. And the New Age fans are back in force - 2 Einaudis, a Lanz and a Nevue.

I need one too! You'll hear lots of them (and loudly) in my piece. But how do you find someone to turn pages for you? Who would want to sit through all my recording attempts? Certainly not anyone in my house -- they're all quite tired of hearing this music by now! Also, do you think having someone looking over your shoulder would amplify the effect of the "red dot syndrome"?

Originally Posted By: casinitaly

I was disappointed not to be able to use the acoustic, but we have had torrential rain for days on end and even though the tuner was here, the piano has wobbled off centre and sounds too sad. (Tuner will come back but we're waiting for the air to dry out a bit!).

Do you have a humidity-control device for your piano? My Dampp-Chaser system has been doing an excellent job with keeping my piano in tune.

Originally Posted By: casinitaly

Funny thing is that I did it last night, and thought I'd re-try this morning. After several tries this morning, I decided that the one from last night was actually the best take That will teach me

I did the same thing! Sat down and recorded my pieces last Wednesday after my lesson, and got a pretty good take on the second try. Since then, I tried way too many times to get a better recording, but it turns out that one was the best. With how long it is, I just can't spend any more time trying to get a perfect recording. Frustrating!

Originally Posted By: casinitaly

I usually end up with a new "Oh! I can't wait to play that" list after each recital.

I just went through my ever-growing to-learn list yesterday, and many of them are ones that I first heard through these recitals.

I was disappointed not to be able to use the acoustic, but we have had torrential rain for days on end and even though the tuner was here, the piano has wobbled off centre and sounds too sad. (Tuner will come back but we're waiting for the air to dry out a bit!).

Do you have a humidity-control device for your piano? My Dampp-Chaser system has been doing an excellent job with keeping my piano in tune.

I don't have one....I'll ask my tuner about it.

(I just did a search on-line and see that the shop I bought my piano from sells them......hmmmmmm)

_________________________XVIII-XXXVIIFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

I hope to finally finish mine tonight. I definitely have takes that are better that what I turned in at the Mendelssohn recital.

I played it for my teacher, who just returned from maternity leave. She says that all my issues are psychological. I know it, I can play it, there's no technique problems - it's just my insecurities with it. I'm always anticipating a screw up, and of course make it happen. I have at least one of these areas in every piece. Of course, the red dot only amplifies it! I think this is the next hump I need to get over. I'm getting better at relaxing, but there's still a long road ahead.

Piece submitted. I got spot 40, a nice even number that I can remember.

I was so thrilled when I did this recording that I ended up being a little late to work because I wanted to transfer it to my PC and email it to my family. I've been trying to get a good recording of this piece for a month now and these past few days everything just clicked. Sections that were hard before are easy now, spots where I made a mistake 50% of the time I play fine. I just hope I can stay in this state because I'm playing this live at my teachers recital in June. If I'm going to be 18 years older than all the other participants I have to know I'm going to play at an appropriate level for my seniority.

Now I have to choose a new piece to work on (outside of the lesson book). This is a daunting task because I've got several pieces I want to learn but if it'll probably take me months to get it down. Have to choose wisely.

Peter I think you can ask Monica to verify that for you - it would be a pity to miss your submission!

_________________________XVIII-XXXVIIFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

Maybe I`ve unearthed a bit of a problem here. Though it only seems I`m affected by it. (nothing new there) Audacity will not convert to mp3 without a (free) plug in. But with this free plug in comes a free toolbar. And Lord knows what else .. .! I had to download (free) malware stuff to get rid of a load of unwanted "extras" last time I downloaded a "free" file converter. So I haven`t got one now! Therefore I submitted an mp2. Is that near enough? (for classics)I really don`t know the difference between an mp2 or mp3 nor do I bl**dy care. . . I might have to learn to lol . .The Day of the Free Lunch seems to be OVER!!

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"I'm playing all the right notes � but not necessarily in the right order." Eric Morecambe

peterws - Another possibility is, if you have uploaded the piece to Youtube, you can use one of the free Youtube to mp3 downloaders to get a mp3 file. Just google Youtube to mp3. That is what I did. http://www.youtube-mp3.org

I have bumped you all above 34 , since I posted last week it has been niggling me , I really wasn't happy with my recording so this morning I had another bash. Maybe because I had already submitted the pressure was off and I managed a better performance - the joy of the red dot.

Audacity will not convert to mp3 without a (free) plug in. But with this free plug in comes a free toolbar. And Lord knows what else .. .! I had to download (free) malware stuff to get rid of a load of unwanted "extras" last time I downloaded a "free" file converter. So I haven`t got one now!

Strange, I can't remember getting an extra toolbar. From top of my head, you need LAME, and you download it here

peterws - Another possibility is, if you have uploaded the piece to Youtube, you can use one of the free Youtube to mp3 downloaders to get a mp3 file. Just google Youtube to mp3. That is what I did. http://www.youtube-mp3.org

I would avoid that route because it involves many conversion steps that degrade the audio heavily. Youtube itself is already too much down conversion, apart from the other steps you need.